


What Would You Change

by AgentCatt



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: But here you go, Hargrove is apparently still alive, I don't know what I'm doing but I kinda like it, I guess suicidal thoughts????, M/M, Post Season 13, Wash gets Epsilon back and things happen, eh not the best, kinda????, oh boy, what has this turned into
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-21
Updated: 2017-01-03
Packaged: 2018-08-23 16:46:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 5,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8334997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentCatt/pseuds/AgentCatt
Summary: Tucker asks the entire crew what they could change one thing in their personal lives if they could.Wash lets Epsilon into his head. Epsilon asks Wash to do something for him which involves a former merc and a former stupid government politician we all hate.[Discontinued]





	1. Chapter 1

 “If you could change one thing from your past, what would it be?” Tucker asks the group of SIM troopers that sit somewhat in a circle. No one wants to go to their separate bases. No one wants to truly be alone with themselves, so they all decided that they’ll congregate in the middle of the canyon. “I’d change letting Junior go to the embassy.”

 “We all saw that coming,” Grif is the next to speak up. Him and Simmons lay next to each other, under the shade of the only tree in the canyon. Simmons rests his head on Grif’s squishy belly. “I’d probably change getting run over by a tank all those years ago. That wasn’t fun at all.”

 “Don’t you like my organs and skin?” Simmons asks.

 “Yeah, but I ruined them, so what’s the point?” Grif shrugs. He had a second chance to not ruin his body and yet he didn’t really seem to care about it.

 “True. I think I’d change saying my feelings to you sooner than later,” Simmons closes his eyes. Donut awes at them. Grif hits Donut in the knee with his free hand. The other props his head up slightly.

 “I don’t think I’d change anything,” Donut thinks to himself. “Not even the near deaths. I like how things turned out to be.”

 “I’d change Grif out for someone else. Maybe someone who would actually follow orders.” Sarge goes next.

 “Hate you too, old man.” Grif flips Sarge off.

 “Oh shut your mouth,” Sarge rolls his eyes.

 “I wouldn’t have killed Church!” Everyone looks at Caboose, surprised he understood the question.

 “I think you would’ve found a different way to kill me, buddy.” Church appears over Tucker’s armor. Carolina must be back from her perimeter check. They all told her that there’s no reason to do that, but she went anyway. Wash stayed behind with the rest.

 “You are my best friend. I would never harm you!” Caboose is too enthusiastic for them.

 “Yeah, okay. What are you guys doing?” Church asks.

 “If you could change one thing from your past, what would it be?” Tucker asks him. Church thinks for a moment.

 “Let go of Tex sooner,” he mumbles quickly. That or change what he did to Wash, but he feels like he shouldn’t say that. Tucker nods at his answer. It’s understandable that Church would want that.

 “Well, what about you, Wash?” Tucker asks and feels Church tense up, since Church transferred to his armor. Wash was hoping that Tucker would have forgotten to ask him. He tried to stay quiet and just listen to the others.

 _Me? What would I change? Maybe joining the Project. Maybe letting Sigma get to Maine. Maybe who I was in general. Maybe just go back to abort myself._ “Nothing.”

 “Dude, there has to be something.” Tucker calls his bluff.

 “Tucker, leave this one alone,” Church speaks for Wash. His voice slightly deeper than it normally is.

 “Sorry,” Wash gets up and leaves the group. He can’t bring himself to tell any of them that he still feels horrible. That he still feels like everything is his fault. Or how he wouldn’t care if he died right then and there. In fact, he rather have that happen. He hears Tucker get up and follow him. Church keeps telling him to stop, but Tucker isn’t listening. He sighs to himself when he’s forced to face Tucker.

 “Dude, you okay?” Tucker asks even though he can clearly see that he isn’t.

 “Just fine, Tucker. Don’t worry about me.” He watches Tucker cross his arms.

 “Tucker, seriously. Leave it.” Church chimes up again.

 “Don’t you worry either, Epsilon.” Wash looks at the ground.

 “Wash…”

 “Don’t Epsilon. You no longer have to be protective of me. I can fend for myself.”

 “But, Wash.”

 “It’ll be okay.” Wash’s gaze finally meets Tuckers. “I’d change my existence to where I wouldn’t be alive anymore.”

 “Wash…” Tucker frowns. He impulsively hugs Wash. He thought Wash would flinch away, but doesn’t. He just accepts the hug. It’s warm and calming, but he still wouldn’t change his mind on what he’d change in his life.


	2. Chapter 2

            It took Wash trying to pull away for Tucker to realize they were still hugging. He pulls away, a little awkward. “Sorry,” he mutters.

 “It’s okay.” Wash notices Church still hovering above Tucker’s shoulder. He’s looking at the ground. “What is it, Church?”

 “Did I really make you wish you were never born?”

Wash shifts uneasily, “Kinda. It’s not all your fault.”

 “What do you mean, it’s not all my fault? I’m pretty sure you were almost perfectly happy before I got to you.” Church appears closer to Wash. “How could you lie to yourself like that?”

 “I’ve been lying to myself for years now. It’s no different.”

 “Wait, Wash? What do you mean?” Tucker seems confused.

 “Did you never tell him the full story?” Church just sounds like he’s frowning.

 “No, I haven’t. I don’t want to.” Wash turns on his heal and walks back towards their base. Tucker doesn’t follow this time. He’s mostly trying to process what happened. Church would’ve rather had him follow so he could continue talking to Wash, but that’s not going to happen.

            It doesn’t take long for Carolina to find Wash. She knows him well enough to know the types of places he would be hiding in.

 “Is Church with you?” is the first thing Wash asks as she sits down next to him.

 “Yes, but he’s offline.” Carolina tilts his head slightly at the fact that Wash turns his back to her. Even if Church is offline, he doesn’t want to talk about anything. He’ll be fine. Just has to give him a little bit of time.

 “Wash, you can’t just shut me out. I know I wasn’t there before, but I’m here now.”

 “Ha. No, I’m fine. I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t think I ever really can. Not after those two years in therapy with… No, I can’t...”

 “Wash, you shouldn’t keep it locked up. That’s how you get worse.”

 “You never talked about your father and all that shit that happened. You don’t get to lecture me on not talking about my problems.”

 “Fair enough, but I’m still going to sit here with you.”

            It doesn’t take long for Church to appear. He thought he was alone with Carolina, but sees Wash before saying anything. Wash isn’t paying attention. His eyes are closed, lying to himself to make himself better. Carolina motions for him to be quiet. She knows that Wash isn’t asleep.

 “Wash…” Carolina looks at Church, not happy that he spoke.

 “It’s quiet time, Epsilon.” Wash doesn’t even open his eyes.

 “Wash, quit shutting me out.”

Wash sighs and looks to him. “We don’t have to work together anymore. I don’t have to listen to you.”

 “Wait, what do you mean?”

 “Don’t, Epsilon. Forgive me for not actually liking you.”

 “I understand the initial why, but why else would you not? Wouldn’t you be over it by now?”

 “Wouldn’t I be over it by now? Ha. Wanna see why? Come and see why.” Wash almost dares, knowing he won’t like this at all.

 “Church, no. Don’t.” Carolina is a little too late. Church moves to Wash. Wash tries to keep himself from panicking. A few moments later, Church appears in front of Wash’s face.

 “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know that I did this much damage.” Church sounds so sincere.

 “It’s too late to be sorry.” Wash keeps closes his eyes, breathing slowly. Wash notices that Church doesn’t want to leave him. He doesn’t know if he wants Church to leave.

 “Church, you should just get back to me.”

 “No.” Both Church and Wash snaps at Carolina.

 “Wash.”

 “What?” Wash slowly gets up and leaves Carolina sitting there by herself. Church hasn’t said anything else to Wash, but he’s there and looking through anything in his brain. Yeah, it’s not the best, but it’s better than being alone. It’s almost like… feeling whole again.  


	3. Chapter 3

            Wash walks in silence. Church sitting on his shoulder. It feels normal. Oddly normal. Wonder if Tucker is going to yell at them for letting Church inside his head. Doesn’t matter either way. He won’t let Church out of his sight.

            They’re so protective of each other. Speaking of Tucker, he just walked by and stopped. He had to do a double take.

 “Church? Wash? What’s going on?” Tucker looks concerned.

 “Don’t worry about it,” Church replies for Wash. “Everything’s okay.”

 “Where’s Carolina. Everything isn’t okay if you two are together.” Tucker sounds rushed. It’s like he wants them to not be paired. Why would he want that? Doesn’t he want Wash to be happy? This is making him okay which is the closest thing to happy he will ever be.

 “Tucker, everything is perfectly fine. This isn’t a big deal.” Wash nods, agreeing with Church.

 “Not a big deal? Dude, you weren’t there for all the nightmares. You weren’t there for anything that has happened. You can’t say this isn’t a big deal!” Carolina walks up to the three.

 “Tucker. It’s going to be okay. Just accept it. It’s not like anything bad will happen.” Wash speaks up to say this to the both of them more than anything. He’s not saying it to himself.

 “Wash…” Carolina doesn’t look okay with any of this. But they can’t do anything about it. Church won’t leave Wash. Wash doesn’t want Church to leave. Why would he?

 “Stop. You can’t take him from me again. I’m stronger this time.”

 “Again?” Tucker asks.

            Wash isn’t going to talk about it. Church can feel that too. Wash looks to both of them then runs off. He isn’t going to stick around. Church tells him in his mind that they aren’t being chased.

            They stop running when they’re out of range soon enough. He walks towards a tree. He starts thinking about everything that was happening to him when he was on the Mother of Invention.

 “Stop thinking about it.” Church appears in front of Wash’s face.

 “Thinking about what?”

 “You know what. I’m not leaving you any time soon. Just trust me.”

 “I trust you, Epsilon. Always have. I tried to help you back then. I’d do it all over again. I promise.”

 “Then do this for me.”

 “What?” Wash looks confused.

 “This.” Church shows him something.

 “I do have one question. Why?”

 “Trust me. Just do this for me.”

            Wash looks back to the canyon. He’s going to have to leave them. It’s for the best anyways. It’s better that he’s gone. Only one that would really miss him is probably Caboose, but even then, he’ll get over him being gone. He’s going to miss Tucker the most. He likes Tucker. Church has told him that Tucker likes him back, so maybe Tucker will miss him too. That’s another possibility.

 “Should I go grab my armor?” Wash asks.

 “You might want it.”

 “I think I’m going to find some new armor. I don’t want to be identified by my armor.”

 “Good thinking.” Wash can feel Church smiling. “You ready?”

 “Yeah. This is going to be fun isn’t it?” Wash rolls his eyes to himself and begins walking in the direction of where they’re supposed to be going. At least that’s what Wash thinks.


	4. Chapter 4

“Can I ask exactly where we’re going?” Wash sits on the ground against a tree. “because I’m all for helping, but I’d like to know where we’re going.”

 “Get some rest. I’ll tell you when you wake up.” Church sits down on his shoulder.

 “Alright. That’s fine with me. Keep watch for me? Even though I sleep light.”

 “Yeah, of course. I’ll keep the nightmares away so you can sleep good for once.”

 “Thank you.” Wash settles in for the night and closes his eyes. Church disappears and keeps his guard up for anyone to come by.

 

            By morning, Church slowly wakes up Wash up without scaring him awake. Wash takes a deep breath, coming out of a decent dream for once. It’s nice having Epsilon back. He’s glad to have slept good for once. He actually feels rested.

 “Good morning Wash.”

 “Morning.” Wash groans as he stretches. He slowly stands up. “Can I now know where we’re going?”

 “Yeah. We’re going to meet someone.”

 “Who?” Wash begins to walk in the direction that Church has given him in his head.

 “You’ll fight me on it if I tell you. Just trust me. Also, there will be food for you when we get there.”

 “This isn’t ominous at all.” Wash doesn’t stop walking. He wants to know more, but won’t argue against it. Doesn’t matter anyway. This probably isn’t going to end well. Hopefully.

 

            Wash stays inside his head most the way. Epsilon keeps him from thinking about the bad memories, but never actually talks about anything. They both enjoy it. A form of peace per se.

            Wash stops in his tracks when he sees… Is that who he thinks it is? No way. No wonder Epsilon didn’t tell him.

 “Hello, Agent Washington.”

 “Epsilon, please tell me this is fake.” Wash crosses his arms. Church appears next to Wash.

 “No, this is real.”

 “Of coooooourse it’s real.” Wash rolls his eyes. “Can someone just tell me why I’m looking at Locus?”

 “It’s Sam,” Sam shifts, almost nervously. He looks towards Epsilon. “You… didn’t tell him?”

 “He wouldn’t have agreed to help if I told him! Don’t blame this on me.”

 “Is Sam your real name or…?” Wash is just curious. Who wouldn’t be?

 “Real name.”

 “Nice. You can call me David if it makes yourself better.”

 “Thank you… David. Would you like some armor and something to eat? I’ll debrief you then.” Sam waits for Wash to move first.

 “You sure he can be trusted?” Wash asks Epsilon.

 “David, I told your team that I’m going to make things right, but not from inside a cell.”

 “You can trust him,” Church cuts in.

 “Fair enough,” Wash begins to walk in the direction of where Sam is leading them to. They walk in silence to a pelican? Where are they going…? “Can I ask?”

 “Let me get this in the air and then I’ll tell you.”

 “Okay. Need help?”

 “No, I’m fine.”

            Wash sits down awkwardly, not sure what to do. Church is telling him that everything will be okay with all this, but there’s always something that makes him paranoid. It’ll be okay, he assumes.

            He notices that they are heading to another ship. That’s odd. He tilts his head slightly. Why are they going to this ship? None of this is making sense. When they land, Sam gets up and so does Wash. He follows behind him, staring at the ground. He kinda runs into the back of Sam when he doesn’t notice that they’ve stopped.

 “Oh! Sorry!”

 “If you’ll excuse Wash, he’s spending the time inside his head. Trying to figure out what we’re doing here.” Epsilon speaks up.

 “It’s okay.” Sam opens the mess hall door. Wash walks in first followed by Sam. “Sit.” Wash complies and sits down. Sam gives him a tray of food and sits across from him. He slowly begins to eat. Church appears on the table, pacing back and forth.

 “Can I know now?”

 “Your team didn’t kill Hargrove.” Wash stops eating to look at him. “I found him and I’d like your help to take him down. The government covered up his death. The guy you killed was a look-a-like. Not Hargrove.”

 “Why me to help and what’s your proof?” Wash slowly goes back to eating. He’s hungry. He’s going to finish his food.

 “Epsilon here is the one that figured it out and contacted me.”

 “I didn’t want to bring everyone else into it. Carolina deserves the break and now I understand that you’ll do anything if I ask for you to.”

 “Of course,” Wash rolls his eyes big time. That makes Sam smile. “Alright. I’ll help. Mostly because I’m already here and don’t exactly have a choice. And it’s super weird seeing you without armor.”

 “I can say the same to you.”

 “I was told new armor.”

 “Yes, of course. After you finish eating.”

            Wash nods and continues eating. This isn’t awkward at all. Eating with Locus. Sorry, Sam. This is great. Wouldn’t want to be spending the time lounging around with Tucker. Cause that’s not what he wants to do.

 “Hey. You agreed to be here. I think you forgot I can read your mind.” Epsilon breaks the silence.

 “And you couldn’t tell me in my head?”

 “Where’s the fun in that?” He can hear the smile in the AI’s voice. Wash pushes the empty tray away.

 “Can we just get me some armor and to focus on the task?”

 “Of course.” Sam gets up. “Right this way.”


	5. Chapter 5

             Wash manages to not bump into Sam when he suddenly stops. He watches him punch in some numbers. The door opens.

 “I want to know how you got a ship as a wanted fugitive.” They walk into the room.

 “Under my real name. No one knew my name except for Felix.” There’s so much armor. Is this an armor store? “Pick out a suit. And no. Felix wasn’t his real name.” Wash looks for some new armor and an under suit. “His name was Isaac Gates.”

 “Wait.” Wash looks back at Sam. “Why does that name sound familiar?” Wash ponders the name. “Are his parents dead?”

 “Yes. I assume you’re referring to the news story over a decade ago? They never found out who did it.”

 “Bet you he did it,” Wash finds some black armor with cobalt accents. He smiles, liking the colors. Mix of who he was and what he’s become.

 “Wouldn’t surprise me if he did.”

 “Why do you have so much armor?” Wash completely changes the subject. That whip lash takes Sam aback for a moment.

 “You probably don’t want to know.” Sam admits.

 “You’re probably right.” Wash takes time to put on an under suit he finds that actually first him. He then puts on the rest of the armor except for his helmet. He steps into better view of Sam.

 “Nice choice.”

 “Thanks.”

 “May I ask why you’re willing to help?” Sam is totally checking out Wash, but Wash doesn’t really notice.

 “Because he asked.” Wash points to Church. “And because the son of a bitch needs to die.”

 “And he’s suicidal.” Church finally says something and it’s that.

 “What?” Sam’s confused by the last part said by Church.

 “Before leaving, Tucker asked all of us what we would change in our lives and Wash here said being born.”

            Wash crosses his arms, not denying it, but refusing to look up. It’s true. He won’t admit that out loud, but Church knows. Just by hearing everything in his head. Never to be said out loud.

 “Is that true?” Same asks. He barely nods his head, but Sam notices the nod. “I understand.”

 “Do you really?” That last sentence annoys Wash. He hates when people tell him that he understands. “Do you really know and understand?”

 “We read your files. We had Aidan Price. Yes, I understand.”

 “You guys had Price?”

 “Yes. He was useless.” Wash can tell how uneasy Sam is when talking about the past. “He died when you crashed our ship. He was on it.”

 “Glad he’s officially dead again.” Wash cracks a faint smile. Sam nods.

 “Come with me and we’ll show you more about Hargrove.” Sam doesn’t want to talk about this anymore.

            Wash grabs the helmet and follows closely behind Sam. He makes sure to pay attention and not run into him. Again. That’d be embarrassing. He thinks right as he almost runs into Sam’s back. Whoops.

 “I took sample DNA from all the blood on you guys after the fight was over.” Some DNA analysis stuff comes up on one of the screens. “I matched it against Hargrove’s to be safe. Wanted to make sure we actually got him. Well, I made Simmons do it, but he has no memory of doing it.”

 “So you took over his body?” It doesn’t surprise Wash at all that he did this.

 “I didn’t want anyone to worry about it! Anyways, it wasn’t a match.”

 “Did you double check?” Wash sets his helmet down.

 “Yes.” Another DNA sample chart thing comes up next to the other. “Sam here got me more blood and we then tested that to triple check. None of them match Hargrove’s DNA.”

 “Oh boy. So where is Hargrove?” Wash isn’t happy at all.

 “I found him on a remote planet. Mixed with aliens and humans.” Sam crosses his arms.

 “Ironic.”

 “He’s hiding there, but he’s heavily guarded. He was with 50 or so guards.”

 “And that’s where I come in, isn’t it? Help take out the guards?”

 “Yes. I can’t do it myself.” Sam hates to admit that. He’s not as good without a partner. Something he kicks himself for letting himself get to this point.

 “Okay. So what’s the plan of attack?”

 “We are going to investigate more. Learn more about him and his guards.”

 “Sounds good. I’d say for you to make sure I get back to my men, but I’m fine with dying in the end.”

 “I got to get Epsilon back along with yourself. I won’t let you die.”

 “Oh?”

 “That was the deal.”

 “What deal?” Confusion hits Wash.

 “The one made with Epsilon.”

 “I should’ve known.”

 “I’m going to gather food for the trip.” Sam begins to leave the room.

 “I gotta ask. Anyone else coming with us?”

 “No. Just the three of us.”

 “When do we leave?”

 “Tonight.”

            And Wash is left alone with Church. He looks at the screen again. Of course he wishes Tucker or Carolina could come with them, but they wouldn’t accept the help from Sam. Wash doesn’t even understand why he’s helping Sam.

 “Because he told you about Hargrove and I’ve been trusting him.” Epsilon cuts into his thoughts.

 “Makes sense.”


	6. Chapter 6

             Wash continues to stare at the DNA results. He’s lost in thought about it. How could they have missed this? He thought they were better than this, well, somewhat. They really should’ve caught this though.

 “Wash,” Sam leans against the door frame. Wash jumps slightly. He wasn’t expecting anyone to come in. “Sorry to scare you. It’s time to go.”

 “You didn’t scare me,” Wash lies. He grabs his helmet. “Lead the way.”

            Wash follows behind Sam to the pelican they will use to get to where Hargrove is. Wash makes sure he doesn’t run into the back of Sam if he were to randomly stop in front of him. As he thinks that, he almost runs into his back. Almost. He needs to pay more attention to all this. This isn’t just a stupid little thing the reds and blues would go on.

            Sam sits in the pilot’s seat and Wash in the co-pilot’s seat. He doesn’t need help from Wash, but might as well just let him sit there. He won’t sit anywhere else on the ship. Only thing Wash hates is the silence. Sam won’t speak. Well, the engine is loud, but everything seems too quiet.

 “Sam, can I ask you something?” Wash waited till they were about halfway to the planet to speak. Thought it would be best.

 “Sure,” Sam seems hesitant.

 “If you could change one thing about your life, what would it be?”

            Sam doesn’t respond. He knows what he would change. He doesn’t know if he has the courage to actually say it. To Wash nonetheless. Someone he fought against for a while there.

 “Okay.” Wash takes his silence as over stepping the unspoken boundary.

 “Ask me again when we kill Hargrove.”

 “Oh…okay.” Wash didn’t expect him to say anything in general. It’ll be nice to get an answer. Yeah, the answer probably has something to do with how he and Felix ended up on Chorus, but it’d be cool to know the exact answer.

            It doesn’t take them long to get to the planet. Upon entering the atmosphere, someone radios to us. Sam handles it like a pro. He apparently knows the guy. Guy’s name is Phillip. Sam explains that they’re finally moving in and won’t be leaving for a little while. Phillip sounds happy to hear this.

 Once off the line, Wash wracks up the courage to ask something. “Why did he seem happy?”

 “I’ve been coming back and forth for a while now. Befriended him to find out exactly where Hargrove lives. You’ll probably get to meet him…” Sam trails off. By befriend, he really meant they’ve fucked for him to get the information, but Wash doesn’t need to know that….

 “Oh. He must be nice then?”

 “Yeah, very nice.”

            Sam lands the ship next to their house they’ll be staying in till the job is finished. It’s amazing how almost everyone has a pelican or form of ship as means for transportation. That way everyone has a landing area next to their house.

 “This place is really nice. I like it.” Wash stares at it as Sam begins to pick up boxes. “Never thought I’d be playing domestics with you, though.”

 “You and me both.” He pushes past Wash and heads towards the house. Wash quickly grabs two boxes and follows after Sam. Sam opens the front door and they both head in.

 “It’s nicer on the inside.”

 “I agree.” Sam sets down his boxes, then leaves the house to continue bringing in boxes. Most of them are food, but a lot of them also have weapons in them. These are some high tech weapons.

 “Where did you get these?” Wash asks the moment Sam renters the house.

 “What? Oh those? Various jobs and trading modifications for services. Now if you’re not going to help carry things in, you get to sleep on the floor.”

            Wash immediately follows behind to go grab more boxes. It didn’t seem like there were this many on the damn ship. Where did he hide all these? By the end of the day, everything was unpacked. Sam unpacked and organized all the weapons while Wash put all the food away. Teamwork!

 “Do you want me to make you something to eat since you’re busy playing with your guns?” Wash stands in the doorway to where he presumes will be the weapons room. Makes sense. There’s only weapons and a table in that room.

 “No, I’ll be out in a moment. You can eat without me.” Sam doesn’t even look up.

 “Okay then,” Wash leaves him alone to go shower. He’s not going to eat. Usually Tucker is the one to force him to eat. The thought of Tucker makes Wash wonder where Church has been. He’s been silent since they left. Actually, where is Church? He doesn’t feel him in his mind.


	7. Chapter 7

 “There you are. Where were you?” Wash asks the moment he feels Church come back into his mind.

 “I was making sure the security system was up to date.”

 “Uh huh,” Wash doesn’t believe him. Shocker.

            Wash walks out of the bathroom, dressed without a shirt. He doesn’t know which room is his. Or if they’re sharing a room. _Oh god. Please don’t have to share a room._ Wash can feel Epsilon roll his eyes at the statement. They walk into the kitchen to find Sam is not just sitting down to eat something.

 “Room for two more?” Wash half smiles. Sam moves over a little to make more room for Wash. He secretly looks at Wash’s back as he gets something from a cabinet. His eyes dart down the moment he realizes Wash is about to turn around.

            Wash sits down next to Sam. They eat in silence. Rather, Wash wishes it was silence. Church won’t stop talking to him about the shit that might happen. Apparently Sam likes him too. He’ll believe it when he sees it. He likes Tucker anyways.

 “I’m going to bed,” Sam abruptly gets up, interrupting Wash and Church’s private conversation. He gets up and leaves the room before Wash can say anything in return. He still doesn’t know where his room is.

            He sighs and gets up as well. He places everything where it should go before heading off to find his room. It’s right across from Sam’s. No shocker there.

 “An actual bed?” Wash barely sits on it. He doesn’t deserve an actual bed. He can’t even remember the last time he slept on an actual bed.

 “You should get some sleep, too, Wash.” Church chimes up.

 “But, this is an actual bed. I don’t think I can. I should sleep on the floor.”

 “No, Wash. Sleep on the bed. You deserve it.”

 “No, I don’t.” Wash forces himself to lay down. It’s too comfortable. He doesn’t deserve comfort for everything that’s happened, but with the help of Church, he falls asleep without too much thought of it.

 

            Wash abruptly wakes up in the middle of the night to hear Sam scream. He assumes it’s Sam. He gets out of bed quickly and goes to his room across the hall. Yup, it’s Sam. Wash slowly approaches him with kind soft words. When he gets close enough, he puts his hands on his shoulders to keep him from hitting Wash. It doesn’t take long before Sam wakes up.

 “It’s okay. I’m here.”

 “Felix?”

 “He’s dead. It’s okay. Focus on me. I’m real.”

Sam reaches up to touch Wash’s cheek. “This is real?”

 “Yes, this is real.” Wash smiles slightly.

 “I’m sorry for waking you.” Sam retracts his hand.

 “Never be sorry for nightmares. You gonna be okay?”

 “Yeah.”

            Wash begins to leave when Sam grabs his hand. Wash looks at him and sees that he doesn’t want him to leave. He slowly crawls into the bed next to Sam. It doesn’t take long for Sam to fall back to sleep. Shortly after that, Wash falls asleep as well. Item number 389 on things he never expected he’d be doing with an ex enemy. Sleeping in the same bed as said ex enemy. What has his life turned into? Nobody really knows.


	8. Chapter 8

           Wash is surprised he slept through the night. Church didn’t help any with the nightmares. When he sits up, Sam isn’t there. He thinks nothing of it.

 “I told you he liked you.” Church interrupts what little thought Wash had.

 “He doesn’t. He just wanted someone close to him. That’s all.” Wash stretches with a groan.

 “Okay. Keep telling yourself that. We both know he likes you.”

 “Yeah, well, I like Tucker. I don’t want anyone else. You should be able to see that in my brain.” Wash heads to his room to get dressed.

            Wash walks out to go to the kitchen. Usually he’s not hungry, but for some reason he is. And there’s Sam. Of course. He sets down a plate for Wash at the table without a word.

 “Thanks…” Wash sits down and begins to eat. It’s a bit better than what he’s been having to eat so he can’t complain.

 “We leave in 30 minutes,” Sam sits adjacent to him with a plate full of the same food.

 “To Hargrove’s?” Wash asks. Sam only nods, quickly eating.

            They finish eating around the same time. Sam takes the plate from Wash to put it in the dishwasher. Wash gets up and goes to his room to put on his armor.

 “These colors suit you much better than the steal and yellow.” Church appears in front of Wash, looking at him.

 “I think so too. Wish they had these colors to pick at Freelancer.” Wash grabs his helmet and goes to the weapons room. He arms himself with a pistol, an AK on his back, and a riffle to hold. Sam walks in and arms himself with the same except a sniper riffle instead of an AK.

 “I don’t expect us to be doing any shooting, but just in case.” Wash nods in acknowledgement.

            Wash follows behind Sam to wherever they’re going. He wasn’t actually told where they were going except it’s to Hargrove’s place. Wash stays quiet though. He doesn’t care to say anything. Church agrees to just go with what Sam says. Apparently he can be trusted. Everything that has happened so far says that.

            They seem to be walking for a long while. So he doesn’t notice when Sam stops. He runs into the back of him. Sam just looks at him, annoyed, because of how many times this has happened.

 “Sorry! It’s not my fault you don’t have break lights!” Wash rolls his eyes.

 “We’re here. Take this,” he hands Wash an ear piece. “Find cover for yourself. Report in any activity.”

 “Yeah, yeah. I know how to do my job.” Wash takes it and hears off to a spot.

            Sam gets in his spot. There’s this huge tree near the back yard that is perfect for hiding. He uses his sniper riffle to look at everything. He looks away for a second. His mind immediately went to the thought of Felix. The way he used to always talk in his ear constantly. There’s a part of him that misses that. He takes a deep breath and makes himself refocus. He has Wash to watch for now. And he has Hargrove, plus his men, to watch.

            Wash finds a spot in the brush. Church telling him about everyone around him and about the men. He’s listening, but thinking. He’s used to doing this kinds of things with Maine. He remembers going on missions with Maine. This doesn’t feel any different than those days. Sam does remind him of Maine just as much as he does himself. He’s reminded of those good days.

 “Can you like not think about this when we still have an asshole to kill?” Church interrupts Wash’s thoughts.

 “Yeah, okay. I’ll stop thinking.”


End file.
